


Handled

by patchfire, raving_liberal



Series: AKA Jonah [12]
Category: Glee
Genre: Aftermath Of Surprise Kissing, Confusion, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Guilt, Mild Cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 20:11:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9674252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire, https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: Rachel Berry doesn't appreciate being handled.





	

Arguing with Noah takes the focus off of the actual reason why they’re arguing. When Joel and Noah leave, Rachel is still a little bit angry with Noah and the way that he’s trying to take all of the blame onto himself. It’s a pattern that she’s seen repeat itself over the years with him, and she’s angry with him for continuing it and with herself for letting him. 

Then the anger ebbs a little, and Rachel gasps when she remembers what, exactly, Noah is taking the blame for. They were kissing. It wasn’t an accidental brush of the lips, or something that one of them intended to be a friendly cheek kiss. No, it had been deliberate and, for lack of a better word, Rachel settles on _thorough_. They had kissed thoroughly and deliberately and in the moments that they were kissing, Rachel had not thought once about Finn or how what they were doing was wrong. 

She’d been a little too startled when Puck pulled back and immediately started taking the blame, and now that she’s alone in her room, she knows that was her first mistake. If she’d only grabbed control of the situation sooner, she could have convinced Noah to talk through it with her, and lead him to the conclusion that it wouldn’t happen again, so there was really no reason to tell Finn and have anyone take any blame. She doesn’t think it would even be a lie, if they didn’t tell Finn—it won’t happen again and it doesn’t mean anything, so Noah would keep his best friend, Rachel would keep her boyfriend, and Finn would be spared the pain of knowing. 

That’s what Rachel would have done, but she flings herself on the bed, remembering that Noah decidedly took control of the entire situation, stating what they would do. Now Noah’s going to tell Finn, and not only that, not until the evening, the next day! Now that time has passed, guilt’s beginning to worm its way into her psyche, and she’s irrationally upset that she has to live with the waiting for over twenty-four hours before she can even pretend like the guilt is somewhat discharged. 

Because of course she does feel guilty. She can’t help but draw parallels to what happened with Noah and Quinn, but it feels _different_ to her, and the part that makes her the guiltiest feeling is that Finn clearly trusts them to hang out together, alone, despite everything with Noah and Quinn. Rachel doesn’t know for certain, but she can’t imagine that Noah and Quinn ever really hung out together, and certainly not the way she and Noah have. 

Despite what she would have done, never telling Finn, it does feel like something changed and some kind of threshold has been crossed, and she considers trying to figure out exactly what it is. Before she can think too much about it, however, her dads arrive home, and she realizes that she’s actually thankful for the distraction. She hurries down the stairs, smile pasted on. 

“How was work?” she asks in a rush. Usually, one of them will ask her about her day, and what music she worked on, and her plans for the evening, but maybe she can distract them tonight. 

“It was great, sweetpea,” Dad says, but he looks a little concerned, so Rachel switches her focus. 

“Daddy? What about you?” 

“I had that luncheon I told you both about,” Daddy starts, clearly gearing up for a story. 

“Hiram,” Dad says softly, but either Daddy doesn’t hear it or he doesn’t understand Dad’s meaning, and either one suits Rachel. 

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them are laughing, and even Dad seems to have forgotten the unusual focus of the pre-dinner discussion. Daddy’s first story leads into a second one, and that one leads into a story from Dad, and by the time they sit down to dinner, neither of them have asked Rachel about her day. 

Rachel mentally congratulates herself. Noah may have gotten the jump on her, but she was clearly startled and taken aback by their illicit activity, nothing more. She can feel her cheeks heat up as she thinks, and she quickly takes a drink of water. Her dads are discussing the annual Labor Day picnic they like to attend in Dayton, and neither of them seems to notice. She’s still more or less controlling the narrative with them, even if she’s not with Noah and, consequently, Finn. 

The rest of dinner, cleaning up, and impromptu round of karaoke suggested by Daddy keep Rachel’s mind off of everything for the rest of the evening. When they stop singing, she remembers that Finn might wonder why they didn’t even text, and just in case, she makes sure to post on Facebook how she spent her evening. It isn’t fake, and since her dads are on her Facebook, one or both of them will probably corroborate it long before Finn even wakes up in the morning, much less before Noah talks to him. 

The next day is agonizing for Rachel. Noah insists that they still get together, but at the park instead of at either house. Rachel spends close to an hour altogether arguing with him about that via text. She points out that Kurt will probably be at his house, and that Noah could even ask Kurt to hang around. 

_And get interrogated about why?_ Noah shoots back almost immediately. _He knows we’re friends and we don’t need a chaperone._

_Clearly we might!_ Rachel types furiously, her hands not quite dry because she rushed through washing them when she heard the chime of Noah’s response. _Tell him you need help with Joel!_

_No way_ , Noah says, and then a few minutes pass before another message. _I probably shouldn’t point out to my half-brother that I can handle babies, you, AND Finn better than he can._

Rachel knows she should respond to the substance of the message, but what she sends is _I do not need to be handled._

_Yeah, all three of you do. See you at the park around one._

Rachel knows the sound that comes out of her mouth isn’t the most attractive, but Noah seems to be getting into a distasteful habit of cutting off her arguments and ruling on what they’re doing or when or where. Rachel sighs, because she knows any more arguing won’t result in any change. Instead, she starts plotting out what snacks she can prepare and make before one that will be fine to eat in the heat. She may have to go to Ray’s, after all, so it’s better if she focuses on that, at least for the next hour or two. 

There’s nothing she can do about what Noah’s doing or how Finn’s going to react that night, and she doesn’t even know what outcome she’s looking for.

Mostly, she wants everything to stay how it is for the three of them—whatever that means.


End file.
